Guard and mirror for water-gages.



No. 743,178. PATENTED NOV. 3, 1903.

- R. S. MEARS.

GUARD AND MIRROR FOR WATER GAGES.

APPLIGATIOR FILED FEB. 6, 1903.

N0 MODEL.

ATTORNE Y3.

rm: nbnms r m-1:00., mm'oumn. WASHINGTON, 0. c4

No. waive.

UNITED STATES Patented November 3, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT S. MEARS, TO PEKA, KANSAS.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters l atent No. 743,178, dated November 3, 1903.

Application filed February 6,1903. Serial No. 142,154. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT S. MEARS, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Topeka, in the county of Shawnee and State of Kansas, have invented a new and Improved Guard and Mirror for Water-Gages, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description. i

This invention relates to a protector for water-gages for steam-boilers of a class that embodies a tube of glass which exposes the level of water within the boiler, and has for its object to provide a novel simple guard and mirror which will prevent injury from flying glass to a person near the water-gage if the tube is suddenly burst by pressure of steam and which also by reflection of the mirror will clearly display the contents of the intact tube for inspection to readily note the level of water in the gage and boiler.

The invention consists in the novel construction and combination of parts, as is hereinafter described,and defined in the appended claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a front elevation of the improved guard and mirror applied to a glass watergage. Fig. 2 is a side view of the same. Fig. 3 is a front View of the mirror and attachments thereto removed from the gage and guard. Fig. 4 is a partly-sectional plan view of details substantially on the line 4; 4 in Fig. 2, and Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the lower portion of the mirror and of an adj ustable clamp thereon which embody features of the invention.

In the drawings that represent the features of improvement and their application, 6 6 represent the gage-cocks of usual form,which when applied for service screw into tapped holes in the head of a boiler suitably spaced apart in a vertical plane for the support of a glass gage-tube 7 which at its ends is removably secured upon the gage-cocks in the usual or any approved manner. Two similar bracket-frames of improved construction are provided for a stable support of the other novel details on the gage-cocks 6, and each body of the frame consists of two parts 8 8, and, as represented, the main portion Sis furnished with two spaced arms 8", that project from the transverse rear edge thereof at a right angle to the body 8, and for the sake of lightness,while conferringnecessarystrength, said body is in plate form. In the edge of the body-piece S which is opposite that one whereon the arms 8 are formed, an essentially V- shaped indentation or notch a is formed,and a scallop a may be produced in each side edge, removing surplus material, as shown in Figs. 4: and 5, leaving two divergent members I) remain intact with the portionof the body-piece that is rearward of the notch a. Upon the free ends of the members I), which project oppositely from each other, the similar bosses b are formed, these bosses and the forward edges of the members I) being alined, so as to afiord a true front face for the body-piece, which is preferably parallel with the rear edge thereof. The remaining portion 8 of the bracketframe is flat in the body and notched, as at o, in the edge that in service has contact with the front face of the part 8, said notch c having a like form with that of the notch a. From the notch c the part 8 is oppositely extended to equal in width the space between the bosses b on the body-piece 8, and upon these lateral extensions two bosses c are formed that conform with the bosses b, and, as shown, the hosses b and a may be secured in pairs together by screws 0 which adapts the bracket-frame portion 8 to serve as a clamping-bar. It will be seen that there is a four-sided aperture formed in each bracketframe by the attachment of the clamping-bar 8 upon the body-piece 8, and from the sides of the angular aperture four studs cl project, said studs being equally spaced apart and positioned in pairs on the body-piece 8 and clamping-bar 8 the trend of the studs being toward the center of the aperture. The studs (1 are designed to provide contacts for the bracket-frame of which they are members to bear upon the cylindrical member of a gagecock 6, upon which the frame is to be affixed, and it will be seen that as the studs will engage the gage-cock member at four equallydistant points a proper adjustment of the screws 0 will press the studs (1 forcibly frame comprises the following details: The against the part of the gage-cock they are opposite, and thus clamp the bracket-frame thereon; but to effect this connection of parts it is evident that each pair of oppositely-disposed studs (1 must be a proper distance apart at their outer ends. As the studs (1 are of small diameter, in case they are not sufficiently removed from each other endwise to engage with the gage-cock properly the free ends of the studs may be filed away easily, so as to shorten the studs and permit a proper clamped adjustment of the bracket-frame on the gage-cock.

The mirror for the reflection of light forwardly upon the glass tube 7servesa dual purpose and is in the form of a flat metal plate 9, having a highly-polished non-oxidizing front surface to afiord a mirror. The plate 9 is of sufficient length to extend somewhat past the ends of the glass tube 7 when the latter is in position for service and preferably exceeds in width that of the bracket-frames hereinbefore described. The plate 9 has parallel side edges that are each folded, as at e, forwardly and toward the longitudinal center line of the plate, thus producing two similar hooklike flanges 9 at the side edges of the plate 9 and on the front side thereof, these members being equally spaced from the plate on which they are formed. Near each end the plate 9 is slotted longitudinally at two points,

which are preferably disposed equally distant.

from the hooked flanges 9, the degree of sepa ration of these slots f at each end of the plate 9 adapting them each to receive a screw f, that passes through the slot into a threaded perforation in a respective arm 8", the adjustment of the screws serving to secure the bracket-frames at suitable points on the plate 9, which is thus converted into a back portion of the improved guard and mirror device.

It will be seen that by means of the slotted connection between the bracket-frames and back plate 9 the bracket-frames may be lougitudinally adjusted on said plate to compensate for variations in degree of separation or space between two gage-cocks whereon the improvement is to be placed.

The guard for preventing fragments of a glass gage-tube when such a tube is fractured from flying outwardly consists of a' foraminated semicylindrical wall 10, that is held spaced from the gage-tube and incases its front and lateral portions. Preferably the guard-Wall lOis formed of a rectangular piece of wire-woven screen material of proper mesh, said wall being shaped into semicylindrical form by curved clamping-strips 11 11, that are secured in pairs on each end of the screen material 10. The strips 11 11 are of resilient plate metal bentinto U shape, as shown in Fig. 4, are applied oppositely upon the reticulated wall-piece 10 in pairs at each end thereof, and are thereto secured by rivets or other means which will bend the screen material into a shape conforming with that of the clamping-strips, that, in effect, are end portions of a border-frame for the improved zontal flange 11, that extends from end to endof the guard-wall 10.

The U-shaped guard-wall and its borderframe may be removably mounted upon the back plate 9 by manually compressing the resilient end portions of the border-frame, so as to permit the free insertion of the flanges 11 into the slot-like spaces between the back plate and the return bent flanges 9 thereon, and then releasing the resilient border-frame end members, permitting them to resume normal shape, which will project the outer edges of the flanges 11 into enforced engagement with the inner surfaces of the returnbends e. The width between the outer edges of the flanges 1las compared with the space between the return-bends e is so proportioned that the flanges 11 at their outer edges will be forcibly pressed upon the inner sides of said bends, and thus be held by frictional contact until the end frame-strips 11 11 are manually compressed for a retraction of the border-frame flanges 11, as before explained.

It will be seen that by the described construction the back plate 9, which constitutes a holder for the reticulated guard 10, is also a mirror which reflects light upon the gagetube 7 and enables the visual inspection of the latter to note the height of water therein. Furthermore, the means for supporting the reticulated guardwall 10 upon the back plate 9 and for attaching the latter upon the spaced gage-cocks 6 facilitates the detachment of the guard-wall from the back plate or its longitudinal-sliding movement thereon to permit adjusting the packing of the gage-cocks, as may be required.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. A guard andmirror for Water-gages, comprising a plate having a reflecting-surface and provided with longitudinal guideways, a bracket adjustably secured to each end of the plate, and a curved guard of perforated material having its edges fitting in the guideways of said plate, as set forth.

2. A guard and mirror for water-gages, comprising a metal plate having a polished surface to serve as a reflector, said plate being provided with guideways along its longitudinal edges, a bracket adjustably and detachably secured to each end of the plate, each bracket being provided with means for securing it to a gage-cock, and a curved guard of reticulated material having its edges fitting in the guideways of said plate, as set forth.

3. A guard and mirror for Water-gages,consisting of a pair of flanged brackets, each provided with means for-securing it to a gagecook, a metal plate having a polished front 5 surface to serve as a mirror, said plate being detachably secured to the flanges of the brackets and having its longitudinal edges bent to form guideways on its front face, and a curved guard of perforated material havro ing its edges fitting in the guideways of the said plate, as set forth.

4. In a device of the character described, a pair of brackets each provided with arms and adapted to be secured to a gage-cock, a metal plate having its longitudinal edges bent to form guideways, the ends of the plate being provided with longitudinal slots, screws passing through the slots of the plate into the arms of the brackets, and a perforated guard having its edges fitting in the guideways of said plate, as set forth.

5. In a device of the class described, a bracket for attachment to a gage-cock, comprising a body portion having an angular notch in its edge and provided with studs projecting from the Walls of said notch, and a clamping-bar detachably and adjustably secured to the body portion, said clampingbar having an angular notch registering with the notch of the said body portion and provided with studs projecting from the walls of its notch, as set forth.

6. The combination with a gage-cock, of a bracket-frame comprising a plate-like body- 3, 5 piece and a clamping-bar adjustably and detachably secured on a transverse edge of said body-piece, the body-piece and clamping-bar having opposed notches in their edges, and projections on the defining sides of said notches for contact with a member of the gage-cock. 7. A guard for glass water-gage tubes, comprising a supported back plate having returnbent flanges at its side edges, a curved guardwall of perforate material,and a border-frame for the guard-wall, comprising two resilient U-shaped strips forming the end portions of the frame, and two L-shaped side strips, each side strip having the bottom outwardly-projecting flange thereon inserted between the back plate and a respective return bent flange thereon.

8. In a guard and mirror for water-gages, a bracket for attachment to a gage-cock,consist. ing of a body-piece, and a clamping-bar, the body-piece and clamping-bar having opposing notches intermediate of their ends, and bosses at their ends to receive screws by which the parts are secured together, and projections on the defining edges of the said notches for contact with a member of the gage-cock, as set forth.

In. testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ROBERT s. MEARS.

Witnesses:

T. B. ATCHISON, A. B.-BUTLER. 

